Riverside Festival of Lights Named Best Holiday Festival!

Great Dickens Christmas Fair, Holiday Festival of Lights, Bethlehem Christkindlmarkt and December Nights also winners

In cities big and small across the United States, Thanksgiving marks the start of holiday festival season. From European-style Christmas markets to staggering displays of holiday lights, these 10 holiday festivals were chosen as the best in the nation by USA TODAY 10Best readers.

Riverside Festival of LightsRiverside, Calif.

The Riverside Festival of Lights, winner of the 10Best Readers' Choice award for Best Public Lights Display in 2014, returns for its 23rd year with more than 4 million lights, an ice skating rink, visits with Santa and his live reindeer, horse-drawn carriage rides, live entertainment and an arts market where festival-goers can do some holiday shopping or participate in free workshops. The festival takes place on Main Street and at the Mission Inn.Photo courtesy of Mission Inn Hotel & Spa

ChristkindlmarktBethlehem, Penn.

It's only fitting that a town named Bethlehem would have a stellar Christmas festival. This Pennsylvania town, nicknamed Christmas City, celebrates the season with an old world-style Christkindlmarkt. Visitors can shop from more than 125 vendors, enjoy live performances, visit St. Nicholas or attend workshops and demonstrations in ice carving, glassblowing and ornament-making.Photo courtesy of ArtsQuest/Christkindlmarkt

December NightsSan Diego

For two nights each December, San Diego's Balboa Park (and its museums) open free of charge for December Nights. This seasonal celebration attractions more than 300,000 visitors who come to enjoy live music and dance, traditional food from around the world, visits with Santa and a puppet performance of "A Christmas Carol." New in 2015 is a Children's Interactive Area where the little ones can participate in crafts and games, or add their artistic touch to a giant coloring book page depicting Balboa Park.Photo courtesy of December Nights

Christmas Village in PhiladelphiaPhiladelphia

This holiday season, Philadelphia's Love Park will once again host a German-style Christmas market. Christmas Village in Philadelphia includes more than 60 tradition wooden booths where international vendors will sell ornaments, hand-crafted gifts, jewelry and traditional German treats, like mulled wine, bratwurst, gingerbread and waffles. It's a perfect setting for a holiday photo op with the iconic LOVE statue, located right at the heart of the market.Photo courtesy of Russ Brown Photography

Georgetown Christmas MarketGeorgetown, Colo.

For two weekends each December, visitors to Colorado can take a break from skiing for a visit to the Georgetown Christmas Market. The aroma of roasted chestnuts fills the air of this charming and historic mountain town, while visitors enjoy horse-drawn wagon rides, visits with St. Nick, carolers in Victorian garb and a procession of Saint Lucia staged daily.Photo courtesy of Historic Georgetown

Winterfest Boat ParadeFort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale's Winterfest Boat Parade, held at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, calls itself "The Greatest Show on H2O." More than a million spectators line up along the 12-mile route through Fort Lauderdale's waterways, making it one of the largest single-day spectator events in the nation. For those who can't make it in person, the entire event is streamed live online.Photo courtesy of Winterfest Boat Parade

Christkindlmarket ChicagoChicago

During the holiday season, Chicago's Daley Plaza gets transformed into a European-style Christmas market inspired by the original in Nuremburg, Germany. Just like markets in Germany, Christkindlmarket Chicago will feature holiday shopping, traditional German food and drink, live entertainment and appearances by Chicago's very own ChristkindPhoto courtesy of True Shot Studios

It was a hard-fought race between the top two, but the Riverside Festival of Lights edged out San Francisco's Great Dickens Christmas Fair for the win. The festival previously won the title of Best Public Lights Display in 2014.

The top 10 winners in the category Best Holiday Festival are as follows:

The Experts

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10Best Local Experts

10Best Local Experts provide users with original, unbiased, and experiential travel content of top attractions, things to see and do, and restaurants for top destinations in the U.S. and around the world. No business pays to be listed. Our Local Experts are well-traveled and well-educated group who are not only experts in their fields - and their cities - but discriminating in their tastes. These local experts live in the city they write about, with constantly updated content.